Meaning making

A little secret about me: I dabble in the tarot. I am by no means an expert. I only own one deck (well, one tarot deck. I’ve got some other oracle cards as well), and haven’t studied it really closely, but I’ve found it to be a pretty good way to connect to some subtle and quiet parts of myself. How? Well, the cards act as kind of a rorschach for my subconscious. In other words, I generally find in them what I am looking for. Sometimes I find myself grasping for something, and then the reading feels a bit silly. Mostly, I’m looking to see if there is something that my“known mind” is missing.

I just pulled some cards with a question and spread sent along by a tarot reader that I like1. I focused on the question, shuffuled and cut the deck, and laid out the cards. Then I started to read the meanings of each card. Nothing. It was like, what? Next thing I knew, I found myself trying to squeeze the cards into some kind of meaning making machine like there must be some truth in them. But, again, nothing. Then I just felt silly.

The thing is, tarot can be like just about anything. We look for meaning where we are. Wherever we are, regardless of what’s in front of us. We want to understand. And we will make meaning even if there isn’t any. This can happen at work, in our relationships, in politics.

I ended up laughing a bit and then deciding to write this. Amused, I’m now off to see what other meaning there is in my life. I can be certain I’ll find some.

Yes, I’ve had my cards read. I found it to be quite useful…not life changing, but certainly useful.↩